10th Los Angeles Sephardic Jewish Film Festival 2010

The «Los Angeles Sephardic Jewish Film Festival» was established in 1997 by the Sephardic Educational Center (SEC) to heighten the awareness and understanding of the rich historical and cultural diversity of the Sephardic Jewish People. The Cinema Sepharad Award is presented at the Festival to individuals for outstanding achievement in the entertainment industry and an affinity to the Sephardic community. Other awards are presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to preserving Sephardic Heritage.

Opening Night, November 14th at Paramount Studios. West Coast Premiere

“Coco” France, 2009 (105 min.)
French with English subtitles.
Starring French-Moroccan Jewish actor/comedian Gad Elmaleh, who in 2007 he was voted “la personnalité la plus drôle de France” (The Funniest Person in France). Coco was one of France’s biggest box office hits of the year. A self-made man who has it all, Coco has reached the top of French society and realized just about every dream he could imagine since he first arrived in France 15 years earlier, a penniless immigrant.  But he has one great challenge ahead of him: to arrange the Bar Mitzvah for his son, which he sees as an extravaganza for the country to marvel at. His son, however, helps to remind us that the trappings of wealth can interfere with the love and attention every child desires.

Festival Film Schedule

TUESDAY, NOV 16TH
“The Fire Within” Peru, 2008 (60 min.) Spanish with English subtitles.
“About Sugarcane and Homecoming” Brazil, 2008 (54 min.) Portuguese with English subtitles.

WEDNESDAY, NOV 17TH
“Among the Righteous “ U.S., 2010 (56 min.) English
“The Pioneers” Israel, 2008 (50 min) Hebrew with English subtitles.

THURSDAY, NOV. 18TH
“The Name my Mother Gave Me” Israel, 2008 (60 min) Hebrew with English subtitles.
“I Want to Remember; He wants to Forget” 1997 (62 min.) English and Hebrew/Ladino with English subtitles.

SUNDAY, NOV. 21ST
“My Sephardic Experience” – Student Film Competition Screenings
“Father’s Footsteps” (“Comme ton Pere”), 2008 (95 min.) French/Arabic/Hebrew with English subtitles.

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I bet you can’t nosh that bagel in Ladino, bubbaleh!

By Anita K. Kantrowitz

Noshing on a bagel while shlepping his groceries, the klutz fell on his tush.

Need a translation? Probably not.

A majority of Americans not only know exactly what that sentence means — including the four Yiddish words it contains — they’ve even noshed on quite a few bagels themselves.

But can the same be said of five Ladino words? Of Sephardic foods?

Probably not.

Which is precisely why the eighth Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival is upon us.

Neil Sheff, international chair of the Sephardic Educational Center’s young adult movement and co-founder of the festival, hopes the eight films in this year’s lineup will help «educate those who don’t know about the ‘other’ Jews — the Sephardim.»

Although Sheff — a native Angeleno — spoke Ladino growing up, he admits that he used to be embarrassed «to speak a different language, to eat different foods.»

Sheff’s paternal non-Sephardic family thought there was something wrong with his maternal Sephardic family – after all, what kind of Jews didn’t speak Yiddish?

For the Sephardim themselves, who comprise less than 10 percent of the American Jewish population, Sheff says he hopes the festival will foster a sense of pride in their unique «historical experience, customs, foods, music and language.»

Yet Sheff seeks an array of films representing both the diversity and the commonality of Sephardic Jewry. He says he is especially proud of the «eclectic group of films» being presented this year.

Muslim director Ramin Farahani’s documentary «Jews of Iran» and Carole Basri and Adriana Davis’ «The Last Jews of Baghdad» are two offerings that simultaneously explore unique communities and reflect the common Sephardic historic arc of coexistence, repression and exile.

The feature film, «Until Tomorrow Comes,» on the other hand, tells the story of a Jewish Moroccan woman struggling with her aging mother, her daughter’s marital crisis and her own romantic entanglement — universal dilemmas, universal themes. In this way, Sheff hopes the festival can also «be a bridge to those who don’t know much about Jews, to realize what we have in common, maybe bring us a little closer.»

Sheff’s goals, then, are nothing short of lofty: to engender pride in a particular identity, to educate «others» about a minority, and at the same time to create a bridge between cultures.

All by sitting in a darkened theater and being entertained. What more could we ask?

The eighth Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival runs Nov. 12 and Nov. 14-19 (at Laemmle’s Music Hall Theatre in Beverly Hills).